On What are your Religious Beliefs Based?

Aussie Thoughts said:
My beliefs are based on a number of things. My family owns a large barley farm in Southern Australia. The children of the Aboriginal men and women that work our farm were my playmates growing up. So I'd hear about Jesus on Sunday and listen to stories of the Dreamtime and such during the week. While attending college I was also exposed to Buddhist and Hindu cultures. So, by the time I graduated I was thoroughly confused and all but ignored religion altogether.

Then, I met this bloke from the states. He put everything into perspective for me and showed me how it all fit together. Now, I consider myself a Christian, but am more spiritual than religious.
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We indeed have all different ways to justify what we believe and why. Since you have asked, I found out through Logic that the universe could not have caused itself to exist, which required a cause, and I called IT the Primal Cause. That's what I call the Creator of the universe; the Primal Cause aka God if you prefer that way.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
What god indeed! You chose the Jewish god because you are Jewish. Makes sense I suppose.There are actually plenty of them one can pick from, if one is not locked into a religious straight jacket.
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unless you believe there is 1 truth, then it's not so much a straight jacket as an acceptance that what you believe is true. It always comes down to what an individual knows is correct or not, and then finding out where those truths lie. For me it was clear that the Quran offered more truth than the Bible so I explored it and decided the religion that followed that had to be the most truth.
 
hmmmm lets see how that sounds.....

wouldn't it make sense the book you chose to believe was the one you thought had the truth? I mean why would one follow the book that you thought didn't have the truth?

And you do realize that everyone else be they Christian, Jewish, Bahai, Sufi, Hindu, Buddhist also has used logic and their superior reasoning to deem that they are following the truth??
 
wil said:
hmmmm lets see how that sounds.....

wouldn't it make sense the book you chose to believe was the one you thought had the truth? I mean why would one follow the book that you thought didn't have the truth?

And you do realize that everyone else be they Christian, Jewish, Bahai, Sufi, Hindu, Buddhist also has used logic and their superior reasoning to deem that they are following the truth??
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You've made this argument 1000 times and I've agreed anyone following these religions SHOULD feel they have used logic and reasoning. That is the point I have tried to make to you so many times. I don't agree they follow truth in full, but that's only because I cannot come to the same conclusion about the correctness in those. IF you have a believe, it is my opinion Logic and Reasoning should tell you that you are correct, if not then what you believe is based off what, your imagination? I believe what I believe now because I didn't believe the Bible was 100% correct, something I don't believe is an issue with the Quran. I'm sure Thomas believes complete logic lies in the Bible, Shib the bible/torah/other jewish texts. I have no issues with anyone assuming themselves correct. That's why I don't feel bad asking them questions about their religion or views about religious topics. and if I contend with anyone I assume they can answer based on their religious understanding. If I say I think it is this way, I assume people know this is an interfaith website and can tell that I am just presenting my view rather than telling everyone they are wrong. So far however most of my posts are returned with essentially "you know why you are wrong, because not everyone thinks the same as you" and it seems the biggest offenders of this are the most common posters.
 
a thousand times in your 300 posts? Shame on me. I am just trying, hard as I might to show you (and Shib) that simply saying "Mine is the most logical/truth/right" just doesn't make sense...

Sure you can say 'in my opinion' we all buy that without any response...but you don't. You say you researched the other religions and found Islam is the Truth...and then expect everyone to roll over and not respond? Your longwinded response here wouldn't be required if you grokked what folks have been trying to say.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
What god indeed! You chose the Jewish god because you are Jewish. Makes sense I suppose.There are actually plenty of them one can pick from, if one is not locked into a religious straight jacket.
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There is no other god but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the only One and absolutely One. (Deut. 6:4) If He was not the one Who caused the universe to exist, give me the evidence of any other who did it.
 
Shibolet said:
There is no other god but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the only One and absolutely One. (Deut. 6:4) If He was not the one Who caused the universe to exist, give me the evidence of any other who did it.
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Really? Evidence? This should be good...what evidence do you have?
 
wil said:
Really? Evidence? This should be good...what evidence do you have?
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Yea! All right. I have the logical evidence that nothing can cause itself to exist. It means that the universe did not cause itself to exist. Only one of the "size" of the Primal Cause could have done that. Can you refute that Logic? I doubt it very much. Only atheists have tried it before but soon to succumb under the concept of Causality not tempered with preconceived notions.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
What god indeed! You chose the Jewish god because you are Jewish.
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In any discussion I would have to admit that being a cradle Catholic undoubtedly had some impact on my 'returning' to Catholicism after trying on various different 'jackets'.

I take comfort from the experience of those I have come across, like Thomas Merton, who made the transition from 'nothing to something' (to paraphrase Merton) that my return was not necessarily a hard-wired inevitability.
 
wil said:
Nice attempt at moving goal posts.....What evidence have you that the G!d of Abraham is this primal cause?
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Because there is just one God and, absolutely, that can't be more than one. Is it also a logical point? Yes, because it is based on the following physical concept:

The Absolute Unity of God

Isaiah says that, absolutely, God cannot be compared with anyone or anything, as we read Isaiah 46:5. "To whom will ye liken Me, and make Me equal to , or compare Me with, that we may be alike?"

Therefore, more than one God would have been unable to produce the world; one would have impeded the work of the other, unless this could be avoided by a suitable division of labor.

More than one Divine Being would have one element in common, and would differ in another; each would thus consist of two elements, and would not be God.

More than one God are moved to action by will; the will, without a substratum, could not act simultaneously in more than one being.

Therefore, the existence of one God is proved; the existence of more than one God cannot be proved. One could suggest that it would be possible; but since as possibility is inapplicable to God, there does not exist more than one God. So, the possibility of ascertaining the existence of God is here confounded with potentiality of existence.

Again, if one God suffices, a second or third God would be superfluous; if one God is not sufficient, he is not perfect, and cannot be a deity.

Now, besides being God absolutely One, He is incorporeal. If God were corporeal, He would consist of atoms, and would not be one; or he would be comparable to other beings; but a comparison implies the existence of similar and of dissimilar elements, and God would thus not be One. A corporeal God would be finite, and an external power would be required to define those limits.
 
You can write post after post. shib, but if what you write isn't convincing anyone of anything what is the point? Change of tactics perhaps?
 
wil said:
a thousand times in your 300 posts? Shame on me. I am just trying, hard as I might to show you (and Shib) that simply saying "Mine is the most logical/truth/right" just doesn't make sense...

Sure you can say 'in my opinion' we all buy that without any response...but you don't. You say you researched the other religions and found Islam is the Truth...and then expect everyone to roll over and not respond? Your longwinded response here wouldn't be required if you grokked what folks have been trying to say.
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Really, calling me out on an exaggeration? Come on wil, surely you are better than that.

I really don't understand your argument? I have stated, "In my opinion", even though that should be GIVEN since this is an interfaith website, obviously our views aren't the same, or this would be the "Christian.org" site or the "Islam.org" forum. And I invite responses. Constructive responses, questions, and comments about how others views differ, or how they are the same. Why would I say anything other than my opinion is what I believe in is the most (if not completely) correct religion IF I FOLLOW IT. Your contention makes no sense. Would you prefer me to write "I believe in Islam because no reason and others are probably better?" No it doesn't answer the question nor does it convey any information that would be honest.

as for your last sentence, my response also wouldn't be necessary if you just continued the conversation of the OP and not sidetracked it with your childish objections to people having views that don't support yours.

1 more time trying to get back on Topic:

Question is stated:
On What are your Religious Beliefs Based?

my response:
BigJoeNobody said:
Logic, reason, proof, science, inherent knowledge of right and wrong in all regardless of religion, similarities amongst all religions, and commonalities in my upbringing, changed by scriptural sources, to the road to truth...

Scattered way of saying, IMO my beliefs are based on all physical proof that I have explored. I would not follow something that cannot be explained in a logical manner from the sources given.
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Your next response (which is prying into my claim of WHAT MY BELIEFS ARE BASED ON):

wil said:
You are preaching to the choir, singing the most popular song for the past thousands of years... Surely you are aware there are Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'i, Christians, Atheists, Satanists, Pagans, Sikhs, Sufis, Jains, etc...all singing the same tune.
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My next response agrees with you, and contains a bit of information about why I am not a member of those faiths:

BigJoeNobody said:
I know. Although I seem to find issues in my knowledge of each... to you is your religion and to me is mine, I will not believe what you believe and you will not believe what I believe... (For those that do not know... this is derived from the words found in the Quran and is fundamental to my belief... http://quran.com/109)
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(is this not a clear, "I agree most people believe their beliefs are based on similar if not the same aspect, but I do not adhere to them because I don't agree with them on some aspects whether it be science, logic, etc. But they should continue to believe as what I believe isn't what they believe (which means the problems I perceive in them maybe get resolved in their beliefs)". If not, is it now? Do we really need to argue more about me not believing Christianity or Hinduism or Buddhism is as correct as my faith? Is Satanism an equal/same (in all ways) path as yours? How about Zoroastrianism or Greek Mythology or Ancient Egyptian Mythology or Judaism or Catholicism or Sikhism or Atheism? Do you believe these are all correct? If so, you have some mighty hard work explaining how the Oneness of Jewish/Islam God belief and the Polytheist of Greek and Ancient Egyptian and the Trinitarian view of Christianity are compatible and all correct. All Acceptable beliefs on earth, yes.)
 
Well, yes, since nobody knows.... tis fine Wiccan, Pagan, Polytheistic... it is definitely a who knows? My rule, as long as you aren't killing other people in the name of your religion....worship as you wish.
 
wil said:
Well, yes, since nobody knows.... tis fine Wiccan, Pagan, Polytheistic... it is definitely a who knows? My rule, as long as you aren't killing other people in the name of your religion....worship as you wish.
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I didn't ask if it was OK for people to believe them. I said are they all correct in your opinion? Are they all the same belief? Are they all true?
 
In my opinion, there is only one real answer, and that one is one we don't have a complete handle on.... the liklihood of any current belief system or scientific thoughts being 100% right isn't high. And the odds of any one of us picking the right religion/denomination/sect/science is many multiples less.

So yeah....they are all as true as the next...and have some sort of value to those in a system...
 
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